It's a Girl

By Thomas Morrone, CFP®, CPA

On Sunday, February 5, 2023, during a full moon, at 5:47 PM, our daughter Kelly gave birth to Eleanor Catherine Mazzariello. This is old news to many of you but wanted to give some additional color and details. For those of you that are interested in learning some more about the event, please read on. Our granddaughter weighed in at 8 pounds, 9 oz. Both Kelly and Eleanor did great and are doing fine. When we got the text and picture of the new baby from Dave, Cathy and I instantly broke into tears of joy for so many varied reasons. We were so happy for Kelly and Dave as they began their parenthood journey. Selfishly, we were also so happy for us as our grandparents' journey expands in pink. The tears were for other reasons as well. Even though Kelly and Dave had picked out a name for their daughter in advance, they kept the name a secret. The name Eleanor Catherine addresses my mom, whose name was Eleanor and of course, Catherine after my wife. We were both so humbled by the gesture that will follow that cute little bundle of joy on her own journey throughout her life.

Let us back up a bit. This past summer, we had a gender reveal party. No one knew the sex of the baby, not even the parents. Imagine 13 large black balloons attached to a poster board, poised on an easel. All but one balloon was filled with black confetti. One balloon had either pink or blue confetti. The process was that the parents to be would pop a balloon one at a time until there was a color of confetti other than black. Kelly and Dave took turns popping balloons. After 5 balloons, all black so far. Then, Kelly went onto another, and the balloon came detached from the board and floated away un-popped. Was it the one with the gender color? Luckily it was not and a 3 balloons later, pink confetti exploded everywhere. We did have a backup plan in that there was a cake for dessert with pink icing inside. Fortunately, we did not have to rush to cut the cake.

So those are some of the details that round out the glorious event. Kelly and Dave live in Fairfield, so visits are not quick “pop ins” to hold baby Eleanor. Kelly has been great about Facetiming so we get our baby fix in between our live visits. There is one other interesting situation about the name Eleanor besides it being my mom’s name. Kelly wears my mom’s engagement ring that was passed onto her. My mom died before Kelly was even born. The fact that she wears her grandmothers ring is special and that she named her daughter after her grandmother, well, tears to my eyes. Another interesting situation exists regarding that ring. It will always be on the finger of a “Morrone”.  My mom, now Kelly and how cool would it be if one day baby Eleanor were to wear that ring. What a legacy, and I am sure my mom is looking down with a smile at her granddaughter Kelly and her great granddaughter Eleanor. More tears.

There is an old saying that a parent is only as happy as their least happy child. Well, at this moment in life, Cathy and I could not be happier. To see our children Kelly and Paul, with such beautiful children of their own is a wonderful thing. Kelly and Dave are so happy with their baby girl, Eleanor Catherine. Paul and Jill are blessed with their two boys Kyle and Ryan. The whole picture of our family is a dream come true. I have often used the phrase, Life is Good. My brother Mark used that phrase all the time. After he passed, I began using that phrase in his memory.

LIFE IS GOOD, VERY GOOD!

Until the Next Tom’s Take…………………….

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